


Daemons and Dust (A Collection of Drabbles and One Shots) His Dark Materials

by jillc



Category: His Dark Materials (TV)
Genre: Angst, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Friendship/Love, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:54:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28509993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jillc/pseuds/jillc
Summary: This is a collection of drabbles and oneshots based on the TV series His Dark Materials, based on Philip Pullmans masterpiece. Watching the show has reminded me about how much I love these characters, so many layers to examine inside them. Enjoy.
Relationships: Carlo Boreal/Marisa Coulter, Elaine Parry & Will Parry, John Parry & Will Parry, Lord Asriel & Lyra Belacqua, Lyra Belacqua & Iorek Byrnison, Lyra Belacqua & Lee Scoresby, Lyra Belacqua & Marisa Coulter, Lyra Belacqua & Roger Parslow, Lyra Belacqua/Will Parry, Marisa Coulter & Lord Asriel
Comments: 3
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

Fandom: His Dark Materials  
Characters: Lyra Silvertongue, Will Parry (mentioned)  
Ratings/Warnings: K  
Drabble Challenge: Drabble Prompts  
Word Count: 379  
Summary: Every year, Lyra makes her way to the Botanical Gardens in her world, and feels the past become the present.

Never Going to Give You Up

In the end it always came back to one time and one place for Lyra. On mid-summers day, she would go down the path, passed the fountains under the wide tree. She would walk over the bridge and there the bench would come into view. She would always pause for that second, the first glimpse she had of it. In her imagination, Will was already sitting there, waiting for her to join him. She would close her eyes at the thought of it, but then someone would walk by spoiling the moment. The feeling would be gone.

As she reached the bench and sat down, she relaxed. All of a sudden, she didn’t have to imagine Will at all. All around her, she could sense him. She could feel his fingers in her hair, she could hear his whispering voice, on the breeze that blew around her. She could see his face, every bit as elated as her own. They may be in different worlds, but for Lyra he would always be a part of her, especially today.

It was now three years since she’d last seen him, yet she could still remember every part of his face. It was the one thing which she feared the most, that somehow the memories would become less vivid over time. But for now, she fought to hold onto every memory of him she possessed inside her mind. She wondered if Will too had noticed the subtle changes in his world, that she noticed in hers. As she caught a sharp breeze, another memory would come forward.

The night she and Will had become one, they laid under the moon and stars, holding hands and contemplating their future. But in the days that followed they learnt that living in the same world, was no longer an option for them. At the time, it felt like the end of the world for Lyra as she wailed against the injustice of it. But Will had calmed her and like they always did they come up with an idea to compensate for it.

So, here she was for another year and here she would return to every year until the day they could be united, in their birds and dragonflies.


	2. 2 The Spell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyra and Will are my favourite couple in this fandom, in fact they are one of the best couples in any fandom, when you consider where their relationship ends up. I loved this scene in episode 6 of His Dark Materials, a chance to explore Lyra's state of mind as the witch's attempt to cure Will's injured hand.

Lyra stepped back and took a sharp intake of breath. As Serafina pushed Will’s head down onto the ground, she listened rooted to the spot as their whispers floated on the air around them. She had always wanted to see the witch’s in action, but never had she been so conflicted as she watched. For as their cries appeared to become ever more intense, so her worries for her friend increased. As she stood transfixed, it was all she could do to stop herself from running away.

Ever since they had escaped from Cittagazze, Will’s hand had become ever more inflamed. It was hard enough for her seeing him struggle on like this. But she was also aware of his unease he possessed as they travelled with the witch’s. He had never come across people like this before. No matter how hard she tried to reassure him, his lack of trust was apparent. 

In the end, the endless pain from his arm, had forced him to accept the inevitable. But not before a brief argument where he had uncharacteristically, accused her of using him as an excuse to stop their journey. The accusation had stung her, but once he apologised, she realised it was the pain talking rather than Will.

As she stood and waited for the spell to end, she wondered if she would forever be a burden for her friends? First Roger, now Will. It appeared whoever she befriended in the end something happened to them. Once again, she could pinpoint the mistake to venture into Will’s Oxford on her own. Hadn’t Pan warned her she was taking a risk, but once again she had done it anyway. If she hadn’t, would Will be in this desperate situation now? She wondered if her desperation to find the answers, had once again blinded her to common sense. Her imperative nature at times felt like a curse.

As the witch’s cries came to a crescendo and the world around seemed to be at peace, she knew all she could do now was hope. She would have given anything in this moment for Will to be cured of his pain. She walked up to Serafina, who wore a marked expression on her face.

“Please, tell me, will he be alright?” Lyra begged, willing to hold onto any little piece of hope.

“We’ve done all we can here,” Serafina assured her, “Stay close to him, it’ll be cold tonight, we’ll continue tomorrow.”

Lyra made her way over to a now sleeping Will, pausing for a second to watch over him. She picked a spot right next to him, staying close and was joined by Pan.

“We feel safe here, don’t we?” Pan asked, curling by Will’s shoulder.

Lyra couldn’t speak, somehow, she would have to hope that her friend was better in the morning. As she closed her eyes, her fears evaporated and sleep engulfed her into a world of silence.


	3. 3 Rebuilding the Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lyra and Will continue to search for his father. As they journey on Lyra takes time to consider their journey together. She considers what it will mean for them both when Will is reunited with his father? In granting his dearest wish, could this mean that once again she would be alone? This is Lyra battling with her inner feelings and fears, as well as her questioning whether her feelings were changing?

It seemed like only yesterday that Lyra was sat collapsed on a rock, inside a damp cave grieving for her best friend Roger. Even now, she could remember the deep feeling of loss and despondency which had wreaked through her heart. The feeling had continued to follow her around endlessly. She missed him so much even now. From the moment her father Asriel had killed her friend, she had felt as if she was on a mission to understand what lay behind her father’s motive. The meaning of dust. She and Pan had set off through the newly revealed doorway and landed into a completely different world, from her own. In that journey she had come across other people, who were just as damaged as she was, for very similar reasons.

She turned her head, as Will made a sudden movement beside her. She watched him closely as he slowly came too. His bandaged hand looked sore and runny again, which made Lyra sigh deeply. She would have given anything, for him to get some peace from the injury. The spell that Serafina and the other witches had performed, had only given him brief respite. Once again, she remembered the conversation with Serafina about returning to their own land, so they could get some more natural plants. But of course, Will was on his own mission to find his father and she felt honour bound to back him, in that quest at least for now.

As she waited for him to wake up properly, she remembered the inauspicious start to their relationship after they first met. She had become spooked when she discovered he did not have a daemon. In her terror she had walked away. But he had followed her and within minutes had found a common ground, in being two young people in a strange land both searching for something. In the months which had followed, their relationship had continued to grow and all the trust which had been betrayed by others, had at last begun to develop in one another. 

“Will, did you manage to sleep?” she asked him, watching him stretch.

“A little bit, every now and then.” He replied, trying to put on a brave smile.

Lyra by now could read him quite well, she could sense his pain, she could also see the tiredness around his bruised eyes, making them look red and puffy. His suffering reminded her of her own mistake, which directly contributed to her friend losing his two fingers. Like Roger before, her mistake had caused a friend to suffer. She closed her eyes in despair. At times she felt almost cursed, the more she tried to find the answers, fresh problems seemed to follow every decision chosen. If she hadn’t gone into Will’s Oxford alone that day, she would never had lost the alethiometer. 

“What’s the matter Lyra?” Will asked, looking across at her now fully awake.

“I was just thinking back to that day I lost the alethiometer, if I had acted differently, you wouldn’t have lost your fingers. You wouldn’t be in so much pain now. I just wish- “

Will didn’t let her finish the sentence. “It doesn’t matter. It was fated that I went to the tower. The knife would still have chosen me, but just in some other way. You have to stop blaming yourself Lyra.”

“I just wish you could get some respite from your hand.”

“It’s not as bad as it was,” Will shrugged. “Will you look at the alethiometer again for me?”

Lyra shifted into her bag, and opened it. She looked at Will, who was staring at it as if wishing that he could understand and read it too. They both followed the dials going around until they came to a stop.

“It’s just saying to continue up the mountain,” Lyra said. “Are you sure you are up to this Will?”

Will tried to smile, though it looked more like a grimace to Lyra.

“I will be fine. If we walk it will take my mind off it anyway. Please Lyra, we have to continue on, I feel like my father is so close now.”

“I know it’s important to you,” Lyra said, gently touching his shoulder. “But sometimes it looks as though it’s too much for you.”

For a second, Lyra could see his face cloud over as if she was saying the very thing, he was fearing the most. But in a moment the look of anguish had disappeared and he was back to the Will she had grown to admire so much. 

“We have to go on Lyra, I will be fine let’s go and find my dad.”

Lyra could see his mind was made up and for all the world she longed for him to get his dearest wish. 

“What will you say to him when we find him?” she asked, hoping desperately that his father was different to her own.

“I won’t give him an easy time of it,” 

Behind the longing in his eyes, she could see a flash of anger. She suddenly understood this wasn’t just about his longing to see his father, but also the need to ask why he had stayed away from his mother and him. Lyra remembered the time when she had found out about her father and mother. Why were grown-ups so untrustworthy she wondered? When was it that they departed away from telling the truth and being honest? Or were they always like this? She knew herself how easy getting into a habit of lying became. Maybe people were just made that way she reasoned. But one look at Will told her that was wrong. She couldn’t ever imagine Will lying to those he cared most for. This was someone who had cared for his mother and been prepared to battle through life, with few friends. It was a high price he had paid for his devotion to her.

“Come on, let’s go and find your father.” She helped him up and for a moment they were standing very close together, making Lyra feel almost giddy. 

Why did she feel this way she wondered, hoping Will hadn’t noticed. If he had he made no comment and soon they were on their way again. She wondered what would happen when they met, would this be the end of her and Will’s time together? All of a sudden, a cold dread swept over her, she realised she couldn’t imagine her life without him. Yet surely that is what would happen she thought glumly. 

“Are you okay?” Will asked, looking back at her, “you looked so sad then,”

Lyra hesitated for a moment. In one way she wanted to be honest, didn’t he deserve that? But it was too selfish, so she put on a brave smile instead. 

“It’s nothing, I am just thinking about how wonderful it would be when you have found your father."

Will gave her a long look, with an expression which she couldn’t quite read. Had she just imagined that he too had briefly looked conflicted? She quickly dismissed it. You are better than that! She grimaced as she remembered the time her father had used that line to her. Suddenly she was back to thinking about Roger. The journey had started from that moment and by the time Will and his father were back together, who knew what it would mean for her? Would she still be searching for the meaning of dust? On her own? 

She suddenly remembered what Pan had said in the snow that terrible night she had nursed her dead friend. “We’ve always been alone,” But she didn’t want to be alone now, she thought to herself. But what was the alternative? Whatever it meant she knew she would have to put on a brave face for now. She had promised Will to do everything she could to help find his father. She wasn’t going to back out now, whatever that meant for them afterwards.

Will stopped, waiting for her to catch him up. As she moved close to him, he gave her a little smile which instantly chased the gloom away she was feeling. She owed him this, she told herself and right now that was the only thing which mattered to her.


End file.
